


Lessons in Surfing

by jagwriter78



Category: Veronica Mars (Movie 2014), Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Comfort, F/M, Post-Movie AU, Pre-Season/Series 04, Set in the book universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26459782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jagwriter78/pseuds/jagwriter78
Summary: When Veronica takes in her little half-brother after their mother's death, he turns to the one person for comfort no-one would have expected.
Relationships: Logan Echolls/Veronica Mars
Comments: 21
Kudos: 78





	Lessons in Surfing

**Author's Note:**

> This little ficlet was inspired by Ahana's prompt on VM Fic Club: After Lianne's death, Veronica gets custody of her half-brother. While Veronica gets drawn into a case at work, Logan is left behind to take care of Hunter. 
> 
> When I read the prompt, my mind went oooooooooh and was off in writing-fic-land. I took some creative liberties with the prompt and made it a "day in the life of" kinda fic.

“You can’t make me!” Hunter yelled as he dashed for the front door. “You are NOT my MOM!”

And with that, the door slammed shut behind him.

“Freaking terrific!” Veronica exclaimed, throwing her arms up in defeat. “What the hell was I thinking?”

“Cut him some slack,” Logan replied as he made his way towards the small nook behind the front door and looked through the window. “That right there? Me, at thirteen, when my mom ordered me to go see a therapist about my _daddy issues_.”

He air-quoted the last two words, stole another glance out the window, then turned his full attention back to his girlfriend.

“I didn’t order him, I just told him to think about it.” She picked up her bag from where it lay on one of the chairs next to the kitchen island and swung it over her shoulder. “I gotta go find him. He doesn’t know his way around Neptune, he’ll probably get lost.”

“He’s a smart kid,” Logan told her as he stepped into her path, blocking the way to the front door. “He’s sitting outside on the stairs. Give him a moment to cool down.”

“When exactly did you become an expert on kids?” she spat at him, trying to walk her way around him, but he kept blocking her dodging attempts. 

“I was that kid, remember?”

She inhaled sharply, and just looked at him. It took a moment until her expression softened, the tough, unyielding front she usually put up slowly disappearing and bringing forth the perceptive, gentle human being that she was trying to hide underneath. Opening his arms, Logan offered her the comfort she desperately needed right now, and she stepped into his embrace willingly, wrapping her arms around his midsection and burying her face in his chest. 

“I’m way in over my head here,” she mumbled against the cotton fabric of his henley.

“You don’t just wake up one morning and tell yourself _today is the perfect day to leave all this shit behind_. It takes time, you know that.”

“Again. Way in over my head here.”

“He doesn’t wanna admit it, but he needs you.”

“He needs someone, I’m just not sure it’s me.”

“He needs exactly you. She was your mom, too.”

That comment struck a chord, and Veronica tightened the hold she had on Logan’s body, desperately trying to keep the emotions at bay. They hadn’t talked much about her, Lianne, since they brought Hunter into their lives three weeks ago. Their days were filled trying to accommodate the needs of a traumatized boy who’d had a front row seat to his mother’s untimely death as he stood in front of arts center patiently waiting for his mother and watching a truck run the light and smash right into their car. Nights were spent watching over the same boy, who suddenly seemed so small and fragile as he lay snuggled under a blanket on the couch, weeping in his sleep and crying out for his mom. 

But Logan was right. It wasn’t only Hunter who had lost his mother. Veronica didn’t want to admit it, always claiming she’d already lost her mother the day she’d walked out of her life all those years ago. But over the last couple of years, they’d found a way to mend at least part of their broken mother-daughter relationship and were on a path to something Logan carefully had referred to as friendship. 

“It's Saturday,” he mumbled as he stroked her back gently. “Call Mac, ask her to meet you for lunch. Do some fun stuff together.”

"Someone's gotta be here for Hunter."

"That someone doesn't necessarily need to be you. I'll look after him. Go do some girl stuff. Take your mind off things."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can and you will. If you don't call her, I will and tell her to drag you outta here if she has to."

Veronica took a deep breath, then eased her head back to look up at Logan. 

"You sure you'll be okay with him?"

"Please, I'm trained to handle war, how bad can a ten-year-old be?" he declared, and dramatically rolled his eyes at her. A comforting smile appeared on his lips a moment later as he gently brushed his fingers over her temple, followed by a short downward arc over her cheek. "We'll be fine, don't worry. Call Mac."

She rose up on her tiptoes and placed a tender kiss against his lips. 

"You've put up with so much already the last few weeks."

He shrugged his shoulders in response, "Marry a girl, marry her family."

"For that, you gotta put a ring on my finger first."

"Semantics," he whistled innocently. "Call Mac."

He kissed the top of her head and released her from his arms.

"Bossy one you are," she admonished him playfully.

"Love you, too."

And with that, he reached for the doorknob and was out the front door a second later. Looking down the short staircase, he found Hunter still sitting a few steps down. His head was resting against the stone wall, his hand impatiently rubbing up and down the side of his thigh. Silently, Logan descended the stairs, wedged himself into the empty space between the boy and the handrail and sat down.

"I don't wanna talk," Hunter immediately informed him, bitterness and sorrow evident in his voice.

"Cool. Cause I don’t want you to talk. I just want you to listen."

"I don't wanna talk _or_ listen," the boy's head snapped into Logan's direction, eyes boring into him deeply. "Not to you. Not to Veronica."

"Tough luck cause I'll just talk anyway, whether you want to listen or not. Have you ever been on a surfboard before?"

"You really gotta brush up on your geography, man. Arizona has no oceans."

"Really? Who'd've thought.”

Hunter dramatically rolled his eyes at Logan’s snarky reply, then leaned back against the wall, fixing his stare back to the steps below. There was a moment of silence between them, then Logan gently nudged him with his shoulder.

“You wanna try?"

"Try what?" the boy hissed, clearly annoyed by the ongoing conversation. 

"Surfing."

"No."

He made a deliberate point of shoving Logan back to the side with a push of his shoulder against his body, trying to keep his own private space. Apparently, human touch wasn’t welcome at all at the moment. 

"You don't know what you're missing," Logan proclaimed, gently nudging the boy again. He instantly was rewarded with an intense glare telling him to go fuck himself. He flashed him a wide, cocky grin in return letting him know, _message received loud and clear, kiddo, but I don’t fucking care_. 

"Can't miss what I don't know," Hunter grumbled, retreating back into his shell as he lowered his head and pulled up his shoulders, hoping that at some point, Logan would just give up and leave him alone - a wish that wouldn’t be granted, at least not today. 

"Exactly. You should try it," Logan rambled on, hoping to coax the boy out of his chosen place of sorrow, pain and grief for the next few hours. He knew once darkness fell and Hunter was left to himself and overcome with sleep, the nightmares would come knocking all over again.

"No interest, thank you."

"I'll make you a deal,” he pressed on, a final approach before he’d resort to just sitting on the stairs in silence for however long it would take Hunter to finally get up and move. “A trip to the beach, I'll give you some surfing lessons, and in return you won't have to deal with Veronica for the rest of the day."

A deep sigh escaped Hunter’s lips. Why couldn’t Logan just freaking disappear or something? He didn’t wanna talk, he simply wanted to be left alone to wallow. 

"C'mon, what's it gonna be? Surfing - Veronica - surfing - Veronica."

Palms facing the sky, Logan held out his hands, slowly moving them up and down, trying to weigh out the options. When he didn’t get any kind of reaction out of the kid, he leaned back, elbows resting on a step further up the stairs.

"Hon?" 

His head tipped back, he stared up at the closed door to the apartment, his shouting just loud enough to give Hunter the impression he was calling for Veronica, when in reality, he knew there was no way she could actually hear him from inside.

"That's blackmail," Hunter griped.

"Kiddo, if that's what it's gonna take for you to have some fun for a change, charge me."

"I don't even have a surfboard."

"Piece of cake. I got a spare. Deal?"

He held out his hand, waiting for Hunter to take it. The boy hesitated for a moment, obviously mulling over who’d be the lesser evil to spend the rest of the day with, then lifted his hand and silently shook Logan's.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About an hour later, they were out at Terra Mar Point. The surf wasn’t very high late in the morning and neither the beach nor the ocean very crowded - thus it was the perfect time and place to take Hunter out on a surfing lesson. The boy’s first few wobbly attempts to stand up on the board resulted in forward, backward or sideway dives into the ocean. At first, he came up spluttering water and muttering a few curse words that Logan deliberately tried to ignore. It didn’t take long though until the clumsy falling off the board became intentional as Hunter continued diving head first into the surf. 

"You do this often?"

He hung half on, half off the board after his latest jump, giving his best effort to climb back onto the surfboard which contentedly bobbed up and down in the waves.

"Surf? Not as much as I like to anymore."

Logan straddled his board and held out a hand to his right which Hunter grabbed instantly like he had done the last few times as well. With an energetic pull, he dragged him onto the board, and Hunter sat up as well, feet dangling into the water on either side.

"It’s kinda fun," he said, squinting his eyes as he looked up at the clear sunny sky.

"And you haven't even seen the big waves yet."

They sat in silence for a while, listened to the sounds of the ocean, marveled at the warm sun prickling on their skin and found delight in the contrast of the cool water splashing against their legs while they were gently cradled by the waves.

"It's quiet out here," Hunter observed, and crooked his head to the side, glancing at Logan who met his gaze with a smile.

"That's part of why I like surfing."

"To get away from Veronica?"

"Sometimes," he snickered, "but more because out here, I can choose to think or not to think."

"How do you _not_ think?"

"You just sit out here and listen to the _waves_."

"That's corny," Hunter snorted, his voice laced with light amusement about the way Logan had actually pronounced the word _waves_ , all dramatically and mysteriously.

"Try it."

Logan lay back on his surfboard, feet propped up, arms dangling into the water, and closed his eyes as he reveled in the tranquility around them. Nothing but the sloshing of water against their boards and waves breaking at the shore. Hunter studied him for a moment, then decided he was gonna give it a try as well as he, too, stretched out on the board. He lay belly down, head resting against the smooth resin coating and watched the horizon move up and down while he swayed with the waves.

"How long have you been surfing?" he asked, paddling a bit closer to Logan's board that had drifted off a bit too much further than he felt comfortable with.

Logan flipped over, and cradled his head on his folded arms as he looked over at the boy at his side who, for the first time since they'd picked him up in Arizona, had an admirable look of contentment on his face.

"My mom bought me my first board when I was ten," Logan started carefully, studying Hunter closely as he spoke, and when he didn't see the ease fade from his demeanor, figured it was gonna be okay dishing out a story that involved his mother. "I'd been begging her for one for almost a year until one morning, she put me in the car, drove me to a surf shop and let me pick one of the finest boards I ever owned. Almost all summer long, she'd drive me out to Malibu early in morning so I could catch some waves. She'd sit on the beach, usually with a book to read, and just waited for hours until I grew tired of the ocean."

"She sounds like a nice person."

"She was. She died when I was seventeen."

The faint smile on Hunter's face disappeared slowly, and he pressed his mouth against the spot where it was resting on his forearm, obviously not wanting to show off the slight quiver that had crept in on his upper lip.

"I get what a shitty feeling it is to lose your mom. You keep asking yourself, why the hell did it have to be her? But that's a question you'll never get an answer to because there's just no rhyme or reason."

"I bet you had your dad who took care of you," Hunter muttered, his voice muffled against his skin, the timbre dark and heavy. "I don't even have that."

"My father," Logan snorted, trying to suppress the bitter tone in his voice, "he didn't deserve to be called that. He was hardly ever around, didn't even remember important things like my birthday. And when he was around, I wished he rather wasn't. He - he got himself arrested a few months after my mom died. Followed her to the grave a year later. So no, I didn't have a father who took care of me. I was seventeen, no parents and living on my own. Trust me, that isn’t as cool as it sounds."

The boy idly dragged his arm that was dangling into the ocean back and forth, sloshing water and generating mini waves between what seemed to be the only two surfboards out in the ocean. 

“How can that not be cool? No one’s gonna scream at you for not cleaning up your room and I bet you could do what you wanted when you wanted.”

“That's the crux with parents. They just drive you crazy day in, day out... you don't realize how much you actually need them until they're gone. If you're lucky, someone else will step up and just offer to be there for you instead, no questions asked. And that person isn’t doing it because they have to. It’s because they want to.” 

Hunter remained silent, his head completely turned away now, fingers absentmindedly tracing the colorful pattern at the top of the board.

“When we got the call that night from the police... wanna know the first two things Veronica asked? _Is Hunter okay?_ and _when can I come pick him up?_. We were on the road not even half an hour later. She didn’t do that because she had to. She did it because she wanted to.”

Logan sat back up to get a better look at the boy and make sure the labored breathing he could hear over the comforting sounds of the ocean wasn't accompanied by silent tears. 

“And how do you know _that_?" There was a slight tremble in the kid's voice as he spoke. "Two years ago she didn’t even know I existed.”

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about your sister. One, she’s got mad baking skills but she sucks at cake decorations. So don’t _ever_ ask her to write anything on the frosting and heaven forbid do _not_ allow her to put on any other artsy decorations. That’ll just turn into disaster." That resulted in a snort from Hunter. “Second, she's a pretty darn good singer, but if she ever breaks out the boy bands of the millennium? Run and don't look back.” Another snort, paired with a short giggle, came from the other board. “Three, she’s also a good listener if you look past her sassy remarks. Four, you can't make her do anything she doesn't wanna do. And five, when she cares about someone, she’ll go above and beyond for that person.”

The pattern tracing stopped abruptly, and Hunter's arm dangled back into the ocean a moment later, following the same erratic pattern that was printed on the board's top in an invisible trail in the water instead. 

“She must care about me very much if she thinks I need to see a shrink. I’m not a sicko.”

"No-one thinks that about you, Hunter. I don't wanna pretend I know exactly how you feel. Everyone feels differently, and whatever it is you feel, it’s okay. Don't let anyone ever tell you that it isn't cause that's a load of BS. But keeping it all in isn't gonna do you any good. You will have to talk to someone about it. It doesn’t have to be a shrink or Veronica or me. You choose who that someone's gonna be."

Finally, Hunter turned his head back towards Logan, and he saw the pain and desperation and anger he'd encountered in himself all those years ago staring back at him. The boy's expression had softened though, the usually hard and stiff features barely visible.

"Did you talk about it?"

"After my mom died?" Logan inquired. "I'm being absolutely honest with you here. No, I never really talked to anyone about it until a few years ago. I thought it was best to just bottle it all up and don't allow myself to feel. Cause you know, tough guy and all. We don't cry. That worked for some time, until the bottle tipped over and my life just spiralled out of control." 

"What happened?"

"I did a lot of shitty things and really hurt the people I cared about. Especially your sister. She didn't deserve what I did to her, but I just was so damn angry at the world."

"It's like you can't stop even if you want to."

"Exactly."

"I feel that way all the time."

"There’s nothing wrong with accepting help to deal with that.”

Hunter remained silent as he buried his face against the board, his forehead resting against the cool, slick coating. He inhaled sharply, then scrambled into a sitting position, straddling the board and feet swinging in the cool water. 

"Why did Veronica forgive you?"

Logan just shrugged his shoulders, "That's a question you need to ask her."

"She'll be pissed at me for yelling at her."

"Veronica? Pissed? About that little shouting match you two had earlier? God, kiddo, you really gotta get to know her better. If at all, she'll be absolutely proud of you for standing your ground."

"You're a pretty bad liar."

"Mmmh, I tried.” He gave Hunter’s board a nudge with his own, sending the kid bobbing up and down in the gentle current. “You were right about one thing though. She's not your mom. And she doesn't wanna be. No-one can replace your mom. She just wants to be what she is - your big sister."

"And what do you wanna be? My shrink?"

"Nah, I'm just the dude who wants to take you out surfing once in a while so you can talk to the _waves_. They're pretty good listeners."

Hunter rolled his eyes and gave him a weak smile, before he turned his board back into the surf, ready for another round of head-dives into the ocean. He pondered for a moment, then turned his head back over his shoulder, gazing at Logan who paddled a few feet behind him.

"Logan? When is it gonna get better?"

He caught up with him, his board swaying softly next to the kid as he stared off at the horizon.

"It can't really tell you when. Certainly not tomorrow, next week or next month. But there eventually will be a time when it'll start hurting less."

Hunter just nodded, his eyes fixed on where his hands were tightly gripping the edge of the board, and mumbled, “you’re kinda okay.”

“Just kinda?” Logan huffed, and playfully nudged his shoulder with his fist. “C’mon, kid, let’s make use of those waves before the surf’s gonna die down completely.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was way past dinner time when Logan and Hunter shuffled into the apartment, each with a bag containing their beachwear slung over their shoulders and a rather content look on their faces. Veronica was on the couch, legs curled under her and balancing a bowl with an assortment of sliced fruit on her thighs.

"I was just about to send out the search party," she called out to them over her shoulder.

"Lost track of time, sorry."

Logan dumped his bag on one of the chairs at the kitchen island, then held his hand out for Hunter in order to take the small duffle from the boy. 

"I need a shower," Hunter said as he swung the bag off his shoulder and handed it over to Logan. 

"Leave some of the hot water for me."

Logan held up his fist, and Hunter bumped it with a grin before he disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

"Okay.” Veronica bounced off the couch, balancing the bowl in her hands and plugging another grape into her mouth. “What did I miss?"

"What do you mean?"

She gestured at the closed bathroom door, "Hunter? Fist bump? Smile on his face?"

"Oh. That."

"Yeah. That."

She nodded her head at him as she joined him at the kitchen island and placed the leftovers of her dinner on the counter. 

"The wonders Hooters can do for a boy,” Logan winked at her and went for the fridge to grab himself a bottle of water. 

"You've made better ones before."

He just shrugged at her, "We did some surfing. Had a little talk."

"Care to elaborate on that?"

"The surf wasn't the best today,” he took a swig from his bottle, “but it was decent enough to teach him how to get up on a board. I kinda get the impression though he likes falling off the board a lot more than riding the waves."

She came up next to him, arms crossed in front of her chest, and gave him an intense stare.

"Logan." 

"Veronica,” he countered her with a cocky grin. 

"You had a talk?" she asked incredulously, brows furrowed in surprise.

"Came with a confidentiality clause. One tormented boy to another."

"He talked to you?"

"I did most of the talking, but yeah, he did some as well."

"And?" she inquired, impatiently circling a finger in front of her to undermine her dire need to find out everything there was about their day-long adventure. 

"Confidentiality clause, remember?"

"C’mon, spill it. You know I worry about him."

He let out a deep sigh and gently rubbed his hand over her biceps. "I think he's found a start to dealing with it."

"You didn't turn him into a surfer boy, did you?” She dramatically rolled her eyes at him, tipping her head back in mock frustration, “Man, one of those in the family is more than enough. Two surfer dudes? Too much to handle."

"Guess you gotta take a pick then. Just remember I’m the one you can get outright dirty with."

He placed a quick kiss on her forehead before he reached around her to grab a handful of fruit out of the bowl she’d placed on the counter.

"You told him about your mom,” she stated flatly as she watched him stuff a couple pieces of melon into his mouth.

"I left out the scary bits, no worries," he replied while chewing on the fruit pieces. 

A smile lit up her face, affectionate and reassuring, as she wrapped her arms around his midsection and snuggled into the warmth his body was offering. His arms snaked around her small form instantly, holding her close as her head came to rest against his chest. 

"Thank you."

"You'll receive the bill for the therapy session in Monday’s mail."

"My insurance better gonna cover that."

“I can be persuaded to be paid in kind instead,” came his smug reply which was followed by a short moment of silence between them, until Veronica tilted her head back to look up at him.

“We’ll be fine, won’t we?”

He tenderly brushed a strand of hair out of her forehead before he bent down and kissed her, “Absolutely.”


End file.
